NBA Teams – Page 541 – NBA Blog

Ryan Anderson should return soon

The Rockets are one of the best teams in the NBA this season, and they should have a key piece back in action soon. Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting:

The Rockets listed forward Ryan Anderson as questionable to play against the Utah Jazz on Thursday, with his availability to be determined how the tightness in his lower back responds to two practices since he left Sunday’s game. But Anderson has improved so much since his back “locked up” that he was cleared to practice on Tuesday at UCLA.

“It’s feeling a lot better,” Anderson, who had a neck injury in the 2013-14 season, but has not had issues with his back, said.

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This week in Utah Jazz history

Dec. 4, 1993: The Jazz retired uniform No. 35 in honor of Darrell Griffith. Griffith, nicknamed “Golden Griff” and Dr. Dunkenstein,” averaged 16.2 points during his career with Utah.

Dec. 5, 2000: Karl Malone converted a finger roll in the lane for two points, moving past Wilt Chamberlain and into second place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list… Malone scored 31 points in Utah’s 98-84 win over Toronto, giving him 31,443 career points, 24 more than Chamberlain’s 31,419 points.

Dec. 7, 1982: The Utah Jazz, in a 137-121 loss at Portland, set an NBA record for free throw percentage in a game, connecting on all 39 of their attempts from the line.

Dec. 9, 1988: Jerry Sloan was named head coach of the Utah Jazz, replacing Frank Layden, who resigned as head coach. Sloan’s coaching tenure was the longest term of service with one team in NBA history. The Jazz retired No. 1 in honor of Frank Layden on December 9, 1988.

Dec. 10, 1981: The Jazz hired Frank Layden as head coach.

– Jazz team notes

NBA Week 8 preview notes

DYNAMIC DONOVAN: As a freshman at Louisville in 2015-16, Donovan Mitchell started five games and averaged 7.4 points for the season. On Dec. 1, the Utah Jazz guard became the first NBA rookie to score at least 40 points in a game since Blake Griffin in 2011. The 6-3 Mitchell has developed rapidly over the last few years, allowing him to make an immediate impact after being selected with the 13th pick in NBA Draft 2017. He is averaging more than 16 points per game and leads all rookies in three-pointers made. With Mitchell sparking the offense, Utah has won five consecutive games to improve to 12-11. Mitchell faces several challenging opponents at shooting guard during Week 8, including a matchup against newly named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week James Harden and the West-leading Houston Rockets on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

SECOND HELPING: While Mitchell is one of many rookies making headlines, several talented second-year players are also turning heads this season. Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Boston Celtics guard/forward Jaylen Brown have helped fuel strong starts for their respective teams. Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram and Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray have produced big scoring games. Reigning Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon of the Milwaukee Bucks remains a steady contributor, while Chicago Bulls guard Kris Dunn and Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis are finding their groove after offseason trades. Count Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield, San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray and Toronto Raptors big men Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam among the top second-year performers, too. The promising play from the NBA’s first- and second-year players sets the stage for a fantastic Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star 2018 in Los Angeles.

NBA MEXICO CITY GAMES 2017: This week, the NBA will play two regular-season games in Mexico City for the second straight season. The Brooklyn Nets will participate in both games, meeting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday (10 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass) and the Miami Heat on Saturday (6 p.m. ET, NBA TV) at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico. All three teams will be playing regular-season games in Mexico for the first time. The matchups mark the 25th and 26th games – including the sixth and seventh regular-season games – in Mexico since 1992, the most held in any country outside the United States and Canada. Last season, the Phoenix Suns played two regular-season games in Mexico City, defeating the San Antonio Spurs and losing to the Dallas Mavericks.

— NBA Broadcasters Bulletin

Knicks dealing with several key injuries

A post shared by New York Knicks

Hornets begin stretch of home games

A post shared by Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) on Nov 28, 2017 at 12:15pm PST

The Hornets are just 8-13 so far this season, which is the 12th best record in the Eastern conference. The upcoming week will provide an interesting variety tests at home which may help determine which direction they’re headed. Here’s the Charlotte Observer reporting the latest:

This is a big week for the Hornets, with four consecutive home games (Magic, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers) over six days. The Hornets have been terrible on the road this season (1-10), but are 7-3 at Spectrum Center.

Ten of the Hornets’ next 13 games are in Charlotte. What has to change to get this team right?

“We’ve got to change our approach. We have to have carryover from (what’s instructed in) shootarounds to the games,” Walker said. “Coach (Steve Clifford) and the staff give us a great game plan each and every night to execute, and we haven’t been doing that.

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Cavs and Derrick Rose discuss future

It remains unclear if Derrick Rose will return to the Cavs. A guess is, he probably will. But nobody can make an educated guess on this. Only Rose knows if he wants to continue playing pro basketball, and also earning massive sneaker contract money in the process. Here’s ESPN.com reporting the latest:

Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue on Saturday said there has been positive dialogue between Derrick Rose and the organization, as Rose continues to ponder his future in the NBA.

Speaking before Cleveland’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Lue did not want to delve into further details about the recent communication between parties, directing media members to speak with Cavs general manager Koby Altman.

When asked about Lue’s comments, Altman, who was attending Saturday’s game, affirmed that the dialogue with Rose and his representatives has been positive, acknowledging there would likely be another update regarding his status in the near future.

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Kevin Love deserves major credit for Cavs success

The Cavs started slowly this season, figured out how to play together despite a bunch of injuries, and now look about as good as could be expected considering they are still without new point guard Isaiah Thomas. Everyone knows LeBron James is still himself, and therefore awesome, but Kevin Love is the very next name that needs to be mentioned. Here’s the News Herald reporting:

Kevin Love should feel like the guy who is often nominated for Best Supporting Actor but never wins the Oscar.

Love has played almost as big a part in the Cavaliers’ 10-game winning streak as LeBron James, but outside the Cavs’ organization, he rarely gets the credit he deserves for the contributions he makes. That goes back to 2016 when the Cavs won their only NBA championship.

When the Cavaliers lost to Golden State in the 2017 Finals, the rumor mill quickly started churning out the notion of trading Love to the New York Knicks for Carmelo Anthony. He was also linked to a trade to the Indiana Pacers for Paul George.

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Austin Rivers fined by NBA

Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers has been fined $25,000 for directing inappropriate comments toward a fan, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 3:14 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Clippers’ 126-107 loss to the Utah Jazz on Thursday, Nov. 30 at Staples Center.

Iman Shumpert undergoes knee surgery

Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this morning at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. The surgery was performed by team physicians Dr. Richard Parker and Dr. James Rosneck. Shumpert will now undergo a period of recovery and rehabilitation and his return to play timeline is currently projected at 6-8 weeks. His status will be updated as appropriate.

Notes on Detroit Pistons success this season

Detroit (14-6) is off to its best 20-game start since the 2007-08 season. Here are some notes about the current No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference entering Friday’s game against Washington:

The Pistons rank seventh in the NBA in offensive rating after finishing 25th last season.

Leading scorer Tobias Harris (19.1 ppg) is averaging 2.9 three-pointers per game – more than double his career high – and shooting 46.7 percent from beyond the arc, also well above his career high. He was a career 33.2 percent three-point shooter when the season began.

Behind Harris and guards Avery Bradley, Langston Galloway and Reggie Jackson, the Pistons are third in the NBA in three-point field goal accuracy at 39.1 percent. Last season, they ranked 28th at 33.0 percent.

Detroit is also making nearly four more three-pointers per game than last season, improving to ninth (11.4) from 27th (7.7) in that category.

NBA rebounding leader Andre Drummond (14.3 ppg, 15.2 rpg) is shooting 63.0 percent from the free throw line. He entered the season with a career mark of 38.1 percent.

Stan Van Gundy needs two wins to become the sixth active head coach with 500 career victories.

— NBA Newsletter